Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology of automatically activating an information processing apparatus even in a case where setting information that is referred to when the information processing apparatus is activated is rewritten.
Description of the Related Art
Up to now, an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer includes a memory for holding basic setting information for controlling the information processing apparatus (information of an initial position address of a ROM which is read out at the time of the activation, information related to an activation of the information processing apparatus, information indicating the time, and the like). The memory that stores this setting information is a complementary MOS (CMOS) and holds the memory of the setting information by power supplied from a battery. Hereinafter, the above-described memory is mentioned as “activation internal memory”. The information related to the activation of the information processing apparatus stored in the activation internal memory indicates one of the following modes;                “AUTO” mode to automatically activate up to a standby state when power is supplied from an alternating current (AC) power supply.        “SOFT OFF” mode to stand by for the activation until a soft switch is pressed by a user even after the power is supplied from the AC power supply.        
A general-use processor used in the information processing apparatus such as the personal computer can store one of information indicating the “SOFT OFF” mode and information indicating the “AUTO” mode in accordance with a selection made by the user in order to correspond to a use environment of the user. In a case where the information indicating the “AUTO” mode is stored, when the power is supplied to the information processing apparatus from the AC power supply, the information processing apparatus immediately starts the activation. On the other hand, in a case where the information indicating the “SOFT OFF” mode is stored, when the power is supplied to the information processing apparatus from the AC power supply, a waiting state for the press of the soft switch is established. At this time, when the soft switch is pressed by the user, the information processing apparatus starts the activation (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-148633). It is noted that the activation is a series of processings performed from the supply of the power from the AC power supply until the information processing apparatus is put into a usable state and includes an activation of application and the like.
A general-use processor that can store both of the information indicating the “SOFT OFF” mode and the information indicating the “AUTO” mode as described above is also used in a printing apparatus.
However, a printing apparatus in which the power supply is hardly turned off, in preparation for FAX reception or the like, may not be provided with the soft switch for switching on/off the power supply in accordance with operation by a user in some cases. For this reason, in the printing apparatus that is not provided with the soft switch, the activation internal memory stores the information indicating the “AUTO” mode as the information related to the activation so that the printing apparatus is automatically activated up to the standby state when the power is supplied from the AC power supply.
Incidentally, the setting information stored in the activation internal memory may be rewritten in some cases because of a foreign element such as static charge or cosmic ray. In the above-described printing apparatus, if the information related to the activation which is stored in the activation internal memory is rewritten from the information indicating the “AUTO” mode to the information indicating the “SOFT OFF” mode, even when the power is supplied from the AC power supply, the printing apparatus is not activated. This is because, when the information related to the activation which is stored in the activation internal memory turns to the “SOFT OFF” mode, the printing apparatus that has received the power supplied from the AC power supply is put into the waiting state for the press of the soft switch, but the printing apparatus is not provided with the soft switch.